Soldier Field’s Old Sod – Does the Chicago Park District have a cushy contract with the Soldier Field sod maintenance workers? I can’t think of any other reason why the park district insists on grass instead of field turf. They spent multi-millions in the 90s refurbishing Soldier Field, but refused to spend $1 million more for artificial turf. That makes no sense. They should stop listening to John Madden (who favors sod just because he likes dirty uniforms). The players want it and need it. Canceling a fan-based event for sod reasons recently was appalling. Come on, Bears, get yourself into the 21st century.
Number One in the Nation? – Why does USA Today insert itself into high school sports with its silly and meaningless national rankings for high school football teams? These ratings have no relationship to reality. Who’s to say Maine South, number-one in Illinois Class 8A last fall, is number one in the nation? Based on what? Too many area coaches have fallen into this trap of pursuing national rankings that are useless and misleading. Teams earn our state’s number-one ranking in a grueling playoff series. They do nothing to earn any national recognition.
Will there be an NBA season? – Can National Basketball Association fans ever bring themselves to get over their need for an annual hoops fix and develop a ho-hum attitude toward league lockouts? If you don’t have the Bulls or Lakers or Mavericks or Heat to follow this winter, turn to the college hoops final four, hockey, your favorite or local high school, or, for at least part of the season, the National Football League. Fans, you have options. Teach the greedy players and arrogant owners that you won’t “come back” to pro basketball if a lockout kills all or part of a season.
This will never happen, but… – Dare we hope that pro sports will end the insanity of paying untried rookies millions to not only try out for a job on a pro varsity, but the goofy practice of paying them millions for just signing their name to a contract? Dare we hope that major league owners will ever adopt a philosophy of “If you produce, you get paid, generously. If you don’t, you won’t.” I even think the Cubs would prosper if such an incentive program were put in place. Ticket prices at ballparks just might go down, along with concession prices. God, what a concept. It’s too logical for the pro sports world of unionized and celebrity-obsessed free agents.
Back to Baseball – Yo, Bud Selig, please, please, end this practice of connecting the all-star game with home field advantage in the world series. Please, please be logical; insert inter-league play into the mix. The league with the best record in inter-league play gets the home field nod. The all-star game is a home run derby with a fun exhibition game attached.
Help with those hockey bills – Congratulations to the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois (AHAI). They run excellent post-season tournaments for the more than 200 club teams throughout Illinois. To help pay the expenses, we encourage booster clubs to help pay expenses, as is done at some schools, and is widely practiced in other sports. There ought to be a way to help relieve parents, in this depressed economy, of bearing all the burden of funding this sport.
Finally, kudos to the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) for taking steps this summer to balance class sizes in many multi-class sports and for reducing the sometimes negative impact the enrollment multiplier is having on some private school athletic programs, and for inserting some intelligent flexibility into the competition.
Soapbox time over.
Thanks for coming to the shop, fans.
